Ms Claus
by KatBlue
Summary: AU.Santa Claus is finally retiring and is leaving the reigns to his eldest daughter, Buffy. Everyone disagrees that a Ms. Claus would not a be able to fill in the shoes of old saint Nick, but Buffy has her own style that surprises them all. Chapter 15.
1. Chapter 1

Ms. Claus. Chapter 1. Santa Claus is finally retiring and is leaving the reigns to his eldest daughter, Buffy. Everyone disagrees that a Ms. Claus would not a be able to fill in the shoes of old Saint Nick, but Buffy has her own style that surprises them all.

Once upon a time, on a cold winter's night…well it's always cold in the North Pole; a city awakens to the arrival of the Christmas season. Lights twinkled brightly on countless of trees and little houses were decorated beautifully. The snow gives the final touch to the winter wonderland place, where Saint Nick continues his work for his once a year round of the world.

Letters come rushing in thousands of bags and they pile up to the ceiling, creating a mountainous terrain. A man with glasses and not very fat sat by the fire reading the letters that the children of the world sent to him.

"Dad," says a young girl entering the room. She could not see him because of the mountains of letters blocking her view. "Where are you? Marco…"

"Polo," replies the man from a distance. The two continue and finally the young girl finds him.

"I baked these cookies for you." The man turns around and looks at the girl. He takes a deep breath and takes one cookie off of the plate. As he takes a bite, he wishes they would taste good or at least be eatable. After the bite, he opens his eyes and is relieved that the cookies were more than eatable.

"They are wonderful, Buffy," says the man. Buffy smiles.

"I knew with a lot of hard work, I would make them eatable some day. Thanks to mom."

"I never doubted you."

"I don't know how you do it." Buffy looks at all the letters. "There are so many."

"It takes the same thing that it took you to make these cookies eatable."

"I don't think that I'll be able to do this."

"You can do anything once you set your mind to it."

"Well, I'll leave you to your work." Buffy exits the room.

The holiday season was Buffy's favorite, there's no doubt about that because she is the daughter of old Saint Nick. The spirit is inside of her and even the incredible magic of Christmas itself. She also loves to go into different cities every year to see how different people spent their holidays.

Her second favorite thing to do during this holiday is going shopping for toys. She had a North Pole Express card that was limitless. (The idea of it is hard to explain, so I won't explain it.) Buffy had a knack for picking particular toys and had always told her dad that instead of making the toys, to buy them in the store like everyone else. He never agreed to such a thing, though some toys for very good kids, he would wave that as an exception.

Buffy is a smart young lady, petite for her age, but pretty like princesses from fairy tales. She is best friends with all the elves. The elves are a variety of sizes and Santa loves them all as if they were his children. Buffy was the size of the taller elves and she befriended two particular ones named Willow and Oz. The two were dating and had always hoped for Buffy to find a man of her own.

"Guys, do you want to try my cookies?" asks Buffy when she found her two friends.

"Buffy, we love you and all, but…" says Willow.

"We want to live and keep our teeth," says Oz.

"I'm serious here," says Buffy with a smile. "My dad tasted them and he said they were great."  
"Okay, I trust the big guy, so I'll give it try," says Oz as he takes a cookie. Willow then follows.

"Buffy, they are good," says Willow.

"Thanks," replies Buffy.

The work of an elf was never done. It takes one whole year for Santa and his elves to round up the toys for the next Christmas Eve. The head elf, named Connor, was the busiest of them all. He had to assist Santa in all his activities and keep a track of the new children being born every year. With all the responsibilities that this one tall elf had, he still had time to admire a beauty that he could never have. That one girl that he wished would be his was Santa's daughter, Buffy.

After reading all the lists, Santa's workshop becomes busy making the toys that the children want. Buffy watches over everything as she does every year before she heads out to one of the cities of the world to spend Christmas with them. Then on Christmas day, she would return to join her own family back in the North Pole.

On the second week of December, Buffy is already packing for her trip to the United States and a state called California. She had uncovered that this very state had a little town that has never been mentioned on any map called Sunnydale. The uniqueness of the town reminds her of her own home in the North Pole.

"Sweetheart, do you have to go this year?" says Joyce, her mother and Mrs. Santa Claus.

"Mom, you know I always do this," says Buffy. "There is no difference."

"But I thought that you could spend Christmas Eve with me."

"I love to, mom, but I really want to check this little town out. I'll bring you a souvenir." Joyce gives her a smile and hugs her daughter.

"Maybe one of those snow globes with the town's name on it."

"A snow globe it is." Buffy pulls out her digital organizer and writes down 'mom-snow globe.' She then grabs her bag, kisses her mom and heads out the door. Buffy meets with Willow outside her door.

"Your mother is right," says Willow. Buffy stops and turns to her friend. "You should spend Christmas Eve here with us. We have this great party and we do gift exchange."

"Really," says Buffy. "That sounds nice, but you know I only get to do this during this season. I never get to go out of here and during this season is when I can."

"But it's just once, Buffy. It would really be fun."

"Love to, but I'm really excited of the city I'll be staying in. It's called Sunnydale. I've never heard of it before."

"Me either. Must be pretty small." The two head into the workshop, where Oz was making guitars out of wood.

"Hey, Buffy," says Oz. "You're leaving already."

"Yep," replies Buffy. "Nice guitar."

"Thanks."

"Oz loves making instruments. I keep telling him he should be a musician."

"What, and leave this gig, I don't think so," says Oz.

"Well, gotta go," says Buffy. "See you guys on Christmas day." Buffy starts heading to the door and then she begins to feel something in her heart sting her. She takes shallow breaths and turns back around to look at the shop. She sees her dad walking up some stairs and then he stops suddenly and puts his hand on his chest. He then begins to lean on the railing.

"Giles," says Connor the head elf, who is standing right next to him. "Are you okay?" The railing breaks and Giles falls from the second floor.

"Oh my gosh, daddy!" says Buffy.


	2. Chapter 2

Ms. Claus. Chapter 2. Hope that you all like the beginning of the story. It's much fun to write a holiday story. So, what's wrong with Santa? Well, we will find out next.

Giles falls on a bunch of wrapping paper. Everyone in the workshop stops working and runs over to where Giles has fallen. Buffy is the first one to jump into the wrapping paper.

"Dad, are you okay?" asks Buffy as she grabs his hand. Giles' eyes open and he begins to breathe hard.

"Medic coming through," says a young, tall man. He quickly checks his blood pressure and sees that it is through the roof. "Giles, have you been sneaking some extra chocolate chip cookies from Joyce?" Giles nods.

"Daddy," says Buffy.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" asks Joyce when she sees everyone surround her husband.

"He fell," says Connor.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Claus," says the medic named Riley. "He's going to be fine, but he needs to rest. Can you get up?" Giles attempts to get up with the help of Connor and Riley, but he falls back down in a lot of pain.

"What's the matter?" asks Joyce concerned that Giles could not get up.

"Uh oh," says Riley. Everyone looks at him. "I think he has a broken leg. I need a stretcher." The elves oblige and quickly get one for him.

"He can't have a broken leg. He has a lot of work to do," says Connor as the elves help Riley get Giles on a stretcher.

"Connor, you can handle everything else," says Giles. "I'll be back in time to do the trip."

"Um, I don't think you will," says Riley.

"What?"

"From what I see here, your leg is broken in two places and it will take more than two weeks for it to heal. You'll need a lot of bed rest for the leg to heal right."

"But he can't. He's got to deliver the gifts on Christmas Eve," says Connor.

"I'm sorry," says Riley. "I can't do anything about that."

"Oh, dear," says Joyce. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll do it," says Buffy. Everyone turns their eyes to her.

"Honey, you can't possibly," says Giles.  
"Your father is right," says Joyce.

"Yes, I can," says Buffy as she walks over to Giles. "I can do anything once I set my mind to it." She grabs Giles' hand and he smiles at her.

"I believe in you that you can take reigns for me," says Giles.

"She can't play Santa," says Connor walking over to Giles' other side. "She's a girl. No offense." Connor looks at Buffy.

"No one ever sees Santa," says Buffy. "No one is going to notice."

"Connor, I trust my daughter," says Giles. "Please help her in everything as you help me." Connor looks at Buffy and nods his head. Then the medics take Giles away. Joyce hugs her daughter and then follows the medics.

Buffy stands in the middle of the workshop and looks around. She then looks at Connor and smiles at everyone. Buffy then leans over to Connor.

"What does daddy do right now?" asks Buffy.

"He tells them to go back to work," says Connor.

"Oh. You can all go back to work now." Everyone still stands in the same position. "Please." After that the elves move back to their posts.

"Come with me." Connor grabs Buffy's hand and leads her to her dad's work room. The room is cleared up from the letters, but it had a couple of papers piling up on the desk and three bags of unapproved toys for Santa to approve. "Your dad has done the major work already, but you'll have to take care of the stragglers and the non listed kids."

"The what?"

"The stragglers are the Christmas lists that come late and the non listed kids are the kids that can't or don't send a Christmas list to Santa."

"Oh."

"Sit down and read the lists here from some stragglers and I'll go bring you some more."  
"More?"

"Yeah, you'll be getting these lists until the eve of Christmas."

"That's fourteen days from now."

"Yeah, are you a fast reader?"

"I think." Buffy whines a little and pouts.

"After you're done with that, give me a call so we can through these toys to approve or not approve, okay."

"Okay." Buffy starts to read the lists as Connor heads over to the door. He then turns around.

"Buffy?"

"Yeah?" She looks up from her lists.

"Don't stress out. I'm here to help."

"Thanks, Connor." She gives a sweet smile and returns to her reading. Connor exits the room and closes the door. He leans on it and takes a deep breath.

"I haven't the slightest idea of how we are going to do this." He nods his head and heads into the workshop.

"Dear Santa, My list is short this year because I only want one thing and that is to have our very own home. I've always dreamed of having my own bed and my own room. It would be nice if you can grant me this Christmas gift. Love, Suzy."

"Dear Santa, I want a fire truck…a basketball…a tea set…a my scene Barbie…a power wheel hummer…computer…digital camera…a DVD player…flat screen TV…a CD/FM/AM radio with remote…a chemistry set…a karaoke machine…"

An hour later, Buffy is done with the list and is in shock that she can remember all of them and what they wished for by heart. It's a special gift that she had for being the daughter of Santa. She then goes over to one of the bags and drags it over to the sofa by the window. Buffy pulls out the first toy.

"Wow," says Buffy to herself. "This is pretty neat." She continues looking over all the other toys in the bag and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

A couple minutes later, Connor enters the room and sees Buffy asleep on the sofa. Surrounding her are the bags of toys that she had already looked over. He is impressed that for her first day, she did pretty well. Connor heads over to sofa and covers Buffy with a quilt that is on the chair and then he starts to put the toys back in their bags. He takes a seat next to Buffy and starts to check off the list he had.

Half an hour later, Connor too begins to fall asleep. Buffy then starts to move a little and her head falls to the side and on Connor's shoulder. He doesn't want to wake her, so he decides to sleep as well. Connor lets her rest on his shoulder and he just puts his head back and falls fast asleep.

The next day, Buffy wakes up. She looks around with a worried expression and then looks at Connor next to her. Buffy nudges him and he quickly wakes up.

"I fell asleep," says Buffy. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry," says Connor.

"Don't worry? We're on a schedule. How could I not worry?"

"Because you actually finished."

"What? But you said there are more non listers and stragglers."

"I've decided to keep the non listers for later, until we are finished with the regular ones and the stragglers. Besides, we didn't get anymore stragglers yesterday."

"Oh."

"You liked the toys?" Buffy looks at the bag of toys.

"Yes, I approve them all. They're great."

"Okay." Connor smiles at her.

"What? Do I have bed hair?"

"No, you look beautiful…I mean fine…umm. I'm going to go and…bye." Connor leaves the room.

A week passed and Buffy becomes natural, just like her father. She surprises herself and everyone at the workshop for doing a fine job as Connor would say it. Soon, Buffy is confronted by the biggest surprise of all.

"Sweetheart, sit down," says Joyce. "You know you're supposed to rest."

"I can't take it anymore," says Giles. "Being in this bed all day."

"It's your own fault."

"Don't start with that."

"Giles, you were supposed to retire three years ago."

"I couldn't because there would be no one to take my place. We didn't have a son."

"So, what? At least during those three years you could of asked for help, but no you wanted to do everything yourself. You are as stubborn as your daughter is."

"Yes, and that's why I love her so."

"She can't do this… fill your shoes."

"I don't want her to." Buffy is listening in at the door. How is she going to fulfill a miracle if her mother and father don't even believe in her?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Ms. Claus. Have a happy Holiday you all. Chapter 4 will be up on Christmas day, so don't forget to check it out. Peace!

Buffy walks away from the door and heads outside. It is snowing and she has forgotten her coat. She rubs her arms to try to keep herself warm and then begins to cry. Someone sees her and puts their coat on her. She looks up at the person and realizes that it's Connor. He wipes her tears away and sits down next to her.

"What's the matter?" asks Connor.

"I can't do this," says Buffy. "I'm not my dad."

"You're doing a great job. What makes you think that you're not?"

"I over heard my mom and dad talking about wishing that they had son and not believing in me that I can do this. They don't want me to do it."

"You must have misunderstood them."

"I don't think so."

"They couldn't have said that. I mean, not that you're a liar…"

"I know what I heard."

"Are you going to give up because of that."

"What are you talking about? I can't do it. Didn't you listen to a word I said?"

"I listen to everything you say, but what do you want to do?" She looks at him as she wipes away the remaining tears from her face.

"I wanna go shopping."

"Okay, if that makes you feel better."

"No, for the non listers. Wouldn't it be great if I could buy the toys they want instead of having them made?"

"That sounds like a good idea since we get the lists real late in the season."

"Bring me the lists to my office…that sounds good…my office." Buffy smiles at Connor as she gets up and kisses him on the cheek. He blushes, but she doesn't notice.

"Sure will."

A couple days later, Buffy had read all the non listers and searched online for the toys they wanted for Christmas. She found everything she needed from a particular toy store. She has everything set and is ready to shop. Connor enters her office and finds her bent over looking at something. He enjoys the view, but decides to make his presence known. He coughs and she turns around.

"You're looking better today," says Connor.

"Yes, I'm going shopping today," says Buffy. "I've got the list here. You want to come with me. It's going to be a lot to buy."

"I'll take a rain check. I need to stay here and prepare the reindeers and sleigh for your trip."

"Okay." Buffy puts her dark pink coat on and heads over to the door. "But if you can get away, I'll be in Sunnydale, California at Harris department store."

"I'll remember that. Have a nice time."

"I sure will." Buffy kisses him on the cheek and again Connor blushes.

When Buffy arrives in Sunnydale, thanks to her special transportation called magic, she walks down the street to find the main mall of the town. She sees some Christmas carolers singing on the streets and some Santa imposters collecting money for the poor. She places a 20 dollar bill in Santa's bucket and he is in shock.

"Merry Christmas," says Buffy with a smile.

"A Merry Christmas to you, too," says the Santa.

Buffy finally arrives at the mall and enters it. She goes over to the map of the mall and locates the Harris department store. As Buffy enters the store, she sees the beautiful decorations they have in the entrance. There is a giant tree in the middle and a train riding around the three. It has presents surrounding it and where the train is set, there is a tiny village with houses creating winter wonderland.

"Now who ever created that has got detail," says Buffy to herself as she enters the store. She takes out her list and heads over to the toy department. "Hmmm, I think I'm going to need a little help here." Buffy begins to think. She then spots an employee. "Excuse me, do you work here?"

"Yes, maam," says the young man. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I have a list here and I need to get everything on it. I'm going to need a couple hands. Could you regroup some of your co-workers?"

"Sure, maam." Buffy smiles at him.

About two hours later, the young man and seven of his co-workers drove over 8 carts to the register for Buffy. When the lady at the register sees all the carts and toys, her eyes widen.

"You're going to buy all this?" asks the lady.

"Yes, I am." Buffy pulls out her purse and takes her North Pole Express card.

An hour later, everything is charged and the young men that help her drive the carts out of the store to her car.

"Maam?" says the first young man that talked to her. "Are you sure your car is here?"

"Yes, I'm thinking," says Buffy. "Hold on a second." She looks at her bags in the 8 carts. "I'll need something big. Oh, I've got it." Buffy snaps her fingers and as they all turn around the corner of a garage, they all see a white limo. She then pulls out of her pocket a key to unlock the doors and opens the trunk.

"Wow," says the first guy. "I guess she's rich or a movie star."

"What's your name?"

"Umm, Andrew, maam."

"Andrew. You are such a dear. Let's start putting the stuff in the trunk. It's very big."

"Yes, maam." The workers get all the toys into the trunk and were surprised that everything fit. Andrew walks over to Buffy.

"Thank you so much for your help. Here." Buffy gives him 160 dollars in 20 dollar bills. "A twenty for each of you. Merry Christmas." Andrew's jaw drops as Buffy enters her car.

"Hey, Andrew, how much she give you?" asks one of his co-workers.

"You guys are all getting 20 dollars each." They all cheer as they see the limo drive off. As the guys re-enter the store they are confronted by one of their bosses.

"Where the hell were you guys?" asks the man in a suit. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"We were helping a very valued costumer, boss," says Andrew. "She practically cleaned us out in the toy department."

"Who is this?" asks the man. "What does she look like?"

"I think her name was Buffy," says another co-worker named Jonathan. "I saw it on her credit card. She's very pretty."

"Yeah, she was hot," says another co-worker named Warren. "Blonde, green eyes, and with a …"

"That's enough," says their boss. "Next time she's here, I want to see her." the co-workers nod their heads and head back to work.

Buffy arrives back at the North Pole with all the toys. She calls up all the elves and tells them to start wrapping. Willow and Oz are the first to work. Buffy heads inside the work shop. Connor walks over to Buffy.

"Buffy, your dad wants to see you," says Connor.

"Did you tell him that I went shopping for the toys?" asks Buffy.

"He kind of got it out of me. I'm sorry. Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, that's okay." Buffy heads over to her dad's office. "What are you doing up? Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Buffy passes right by Giles and takes off her pink coat and then faces her dad.

"How am I to rest when you are going out buying the toys?" says Giles in a very angry tone. "Santa's elves make the toys, they don't buy them."

"I know that, but I thought that it would be easier to give the non listers and the stragglers toys of the stores. They are not getting anything lesser than the toys that elves make here. This store is incredible. It has such a variety."  
"Buffy, I knew you couldn't do this. I should have listened to your mother when she told me…"

"When she told you to retire three years ago and find someone to fill in your shoes that isn't me."

"You heard that?"  
"Yes! I heard everything. I was going to ask you for some advice on something and change my mind because you don't believe in me."

"That's not true. I was in a lot of pain that night. I didn't mean anything I said. Your mother and I don't want you to run this business because it's long hours and very strenuous."

"Connor believes in me. I can do this and I am doing it. Now I'm sorry that I have to say this to you, but dad, go to your room. I'm running things now and I'm a little busy to deal with petty complaints." Buffy pushes him out of the office and shuts the door in his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Ms. Claus. Hope you all had a nice Christmas for those who celebrate it.

On the next day, Connor comes to Buffy's office. He notices that she changed the Mr. Claus door label to Ms. Claus. Then he enters her office, giving her a funny look. She immediately looks at his face and knows exactly what he is referring to.

"Do you like it?" asks Buffy with a smile.

"Did your dad see it?" asks Connor.

"I'm hoping on it." Connor laughs.

"I guess you told him yesterday."

"I'm not going to let some grumpy old Santa ruin my Christmas."

"Well, I'm here to give you an update. From the toys that you got yesterday, they all were wrapped and ready to go in the bag."

"Wow, you guys work fast."

"That's what we do best."

"Well, another round at the mall. Where's today's list?"

"Umm, no stragglers today. The non listers are done."

"Are you kidding?"

"For the first time I am not."

"Does this mean that I have the day off?"

"Yes."

"Yeah." Buffy jumps with joy. "I want to go shopping, with you."

"Umm, no, I can't."

"Yes, you can. I'm your boss. You have the day off." Buffy smiles and grabs her coat.

"Okay, only for a little while."

"This is going to be fun."

When they arrive at the mall, Connor is amazed at the pretty decorations all around. He has never been outside the North Pole and has always wondered what the rest of the world was like.

"I want to get gifts for the elves," says Buffy. "They work so hard during the whole year. They deserve something and since you know them so well, you can help me out."

"Okay, but I'm really not good at picking out anything," says Connor.

"Don't worry. You'll do fine." Buffy grabs him by the arm and they enter the department store she was in yesterday. One of the co-workers spots her and quickly heads over to his boss to tell him that the girl with the big purchases has returned. The co-worker leads his boss to her and points her out.

"Whoa," says the boss. "You weren't kidding, she is hot." The co-worker looks at his boss. Then the boss fixes himself and walks over to her. "Good afternoon, welcome to Harris department store. Is there anything I can help you with?" Buffy turns to the guy and her eyes light up at his sight.

"No, thanks," replies Connor.

"Weren't you here yesterday?" The boss asks the woman.

"Yes," replies Buffy finally speaking. "I'm Buffy."

"Alexander Harris. I own the store."

"Oh." Connor doesn't like how the guy is looking at Buffy and how Buffy is looking at the guy. "Your workers helped me a lot. I had a lot to do and they were kind enough to take my stuff to my car."

"Well, we're here to serve our costumers with the utmost courtesy."

"I can see that." Connor coughs. "Oh, this is my friend Connor."

"Hi, nice to meet you," says Alexander as he extends his hand to him. Connor shakes it. "If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Okay, thanks," says Buffy. Connor rolls his eyes and pulls Buffy away from the aisle. "Wasn't he sweet?"

"Yeah, right," says Connor.

"So, what is it that the elves want?"

"I really haven't the slightest idea."  
"Come on, you know them well. There has got to be something that they want."

"Well, I overheard Willow talking to Oz. She was telling him what she wanted for Christmas. She said that she wanted some vanilla scented thing, but she also said that she wanted this face crème and had said that all the girls really wanted it, too."

"A face crème? What kind?"

"I think she said something like a moisturizer that helps keep the face not so dry because of the weather."

"Oh, I have one of those. Then I'll get that. There are 130 girls, correct?"

"Um, yeah." Buffy pulls Connor over to the boutiques, where they sell the face crèmes.

"Hello, how may I help you?" asks the lady at the counter.

"Hi, we're looking for a face crème that is a moisturizer and that fares well in cold weather."

"Oh, well we have this one in particular that does wonders to the skin. It's not greasy at all. What type of skin do you have?"

"Oh, it's not for me. Do you have a crème for all types of skins?"

"Yes, we do."

"That's great. I'll take 130 of them please." Buffy pulls out her credit card. The woman looks at her like if she had grown a second head.

"Did you say 130?"

"Yes."

"Sure, one moment please." The woman goes over to her phone and calls someone.

Meanwhile in the control room of the store, Xander and the security guy watch the cameras.

"Hey, Harris," calls the security guy. "Is that her?"

"Yeah," replies Xander.

"She's pretty hot."

"Tell me about it." A phone rings and Xander picks it up. "Hello."

"Mr. Harris, there is a woman here who wants 130 face crèmes," says the woman.

"That's okay, Cordy. I'll take care of that. Give her the recipe and tell her she can pick it up after her shopping."

"Okay." Cordy hangs up and does as she is told. She charges her $6,500.00. Buffy hands her the card and Cordy is surprised that it went through. She then hands her the recipe and the card back. "Thank you for shopping here. Have a nice day and happy holidays."

"Thank you." Buffy and Connor leave the counter. "So, what about the boys?" Connor rolls his eyes and then smiles at her.

"I think they need boats," replies Connor. "I've seen some with very old boats."

"Boats it is." Buffy pulls Connor over to the shoe section. "Hmmm. What kind?"

"Maybe these ones." Connor points out a pair. "They have them in two colors."

"Oh, what about their sizes?"

"That's a tough one."

"Hmmm. How about a little magic to figure it out?"

"Can you do it?"

"Never tried, but if daddy can do it, so can I."

"Alright, give it shot." Buffy concentrates, so that she can find out the sizes of the male elves shoes. A bright light comes from her purse. She opens it and sees a list.

"A list of the elves and their shoe sizes. It's perfect." Buffy then calls over a person that works in the shoe section and she reads off her list. The person is in shock when she tells her that she wanted 130 shoes and all the different sizes that she wanted.

Suddenly, Connor's cell phone rings. He picks it up and tires to calm down the person on the other line. Connor nods his head.

"Alright, I'll be there right away," says Connor.

"What happened?"

"Nothing to worry about."

"Connor."

"A little accident at the work shop and if I don't get over there before your father does, he'll have my head."

"Well, then go, but you didn't tell me what you wanted for Christmas?"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Connor kisses Buffy on the cheek and heads out of the store. She turns around and is surprised by Xander.

"Hi," says Xander. "Guess your boyfriend abandoned you."

"Who? Connor? Oh no. He's not my boyfriend."

"Well, it looks like you need some help."

"A little I guess."

"Mind if I help?"

"Not at all."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5. Ms. Claus.

Xander takes care of her shoe dilemma immediately and Buffy is happy to have his help. She is happy that he did not ask why so many shoes because Buffy can only tell him the truth and that would sound a little strange.

"Well, everything is set and you can get them on your way out," says Xander. "Here is your receipt." Xander hands it to her and Buffy quickly puts it in her purse.

"Thank you," says Buffy with a smile.

"Are you hungry?" Buffy looks at him.

"Yes."

"Because I'm starving. You wanna join me for lunch?"

"I have many things to do…"

"Come on. Just one hour." Xander puts his arm around her and leads her out of the department store.

"Okay, if you insist." The two walk over to the cafeteria and have some lunch. "So, have you been a good boy this year?"

"Wow, that is the most unlikely question that a woman has ever asked me."

"I'm sorry. Too personal."

"Not at all. I've been pretty good. I help people like yourself find what they are looking for and if they have problems, I help them solve it."

"Why do you assume I help people?"

"Well, the gifts. You must be buying them for some people who need them."

"True, but what if I'm buying them for the fact that it makes me happy giving them something?"

"I guess that sounds more appealing. I happen to have something that would make me very happy, besides winning the lotto." Buffy laughs a little. "I would like to know first what are you doing Christmas Eve, then I would like to invite you to my place for dinner."

"That's really kind of you, but I..." Buffy then gets lost in his deep brown eyes and is caught starring at him by Xander.

"Do I have something on my face?" Buffy realizes and looks away quickly and then blushes.

"No, it's just…" Buffy turns to face him. "You're…Um, I need to go." Buffy gets up and heads out of the cafeteria.

"Wait. Please." Xander follows her quickly. "I didn't mean to sound too up front."  
"You weren't at all. You were kind and generous, but I can't. I'm very busy that night. Goodbye."

"Hold on a minute. The gifts."

"It's alright. I'll handle that. I really must get going." Buffy snaps her finger and then enters a crowd of people. Xander goes after her, but gets lost in the crowd and loses sight of her.

"Where did she go?"

Meanwhile at the North Pole, Connor is already taking care of the dilemma that they called him about. He is relieved that Giles decided to come down to check on things after the problem had been solved.

"Connor," says Giles.

"Yes, sir," says Connor.

"Where's my daughter?"

"Um, she's shopping."

"Again? Why isn't she here doing the work she needs to do?"

"The shopping she did yesterday took care of all the non-listers and the stragglers lists. I kind of thought it would be nice to give her the day off. She's really done great things for us and she really deserves it."

"Very well. When she comes in, tell her to come to my room. I need to speak with her."

"Yes, sir."

Buffy arrives at the North Pole, with her packages right behind her at the snap of her finger. She is in front of her house and thinks for a while.

"Hmmm," says Buffy to herself. "How I am going to get these wrapped without the elves knowing about them?"

"Buffy, you're back," says Connor as he walks over to her.

"Yes, did you handle the problem?"

"Yes. Look, your father wants to see you in his room." Buffy rolls her eyes.

"Alright. Could you help me with these gifts?"

"Sure." Connor starts to take a couple bags and begins to take them inside.

"Put them in here." Buffy opens a big closet near the doorway. They stow all the presents there and close the door when they finish. Buffy's mom walks over to them.

"Hi, mom." Buffy smiles. "Dad wants to see me?"

"Yes, he's in the study right now." Joyce leads Buffy over to the study. "Connor, would you like to join us for dinner?"

"I really appreciate it, but…"

"I won't take no for an answer." Joyce leaves the study and heads to the kitchen.

"Dad, what is it you want now? What am I doing wrong this time? Oh, wait a minute don't tell me it's…"

"Buffy," says Giles. "I'm overwhelmed by your incredible strength of taking this very demanding job at such short notice. I apologize for my rude behavior before and I've never been happier for you than I am now." Buffy's mouth falls open and then some tears start to come out.

"I thought you were going to…" Buffy tries to hold her tears in, but she couldn't. She runs over to her dad and hugs him. The tears fall down. "Thank you so much."

"This is such a Kodak moment," says Connor with a smile. Giles and Buffy turn to face Connor.

"Well, I never could have done anything without Connor's help. He's an angel." Buffy walks up to him and gives him a hug.

"That he is," says Giles. "He always seems to know everything before I do. Are you psychic?"

"No, I am not."

"Well, you're an incredible worker and I would choose you in a heartbeat to take the role of Santa Claus."

"Giles, that's an incredible honor."

"Why can't he?"

"He's an elf. All Santa's must be human beings."

"It's not like anybody is going to know. I agree with you, dad, he would make a good Santa."

"Don't get any ideas, Buffy. You're dad's right. I can only help Santa. I can't be Santa."

"Dinner is ready," says Joyce. They all head over to the dinner table. Connor gets the chair for Buffy and sits next to her. Giles and Joyce see that Connor has become very close to Buffy. They have always known that he has had a crush on her since she was five years old and everyone had hoped that some day they would get together. Miracles happen every day, but no miracle could put Buffy and Connor together. Buffy has always seen him as her brother since she is an only child, she really likes to have someone to play with and be with.

"So, Buffy, I see you have gotten ahead on many things," says Joyce.

"Yes, I'm very happy about it," replies Buffy.

"She's really great," says Connor as he puts his hand on hers. He didn't do it on purpose or to put a move on her, but that is what Buffy felt. He quickly removes it and continues to eat. "So, how's your leg Giles?"

"Much better," replies Giles.

Later, Giles shows Connor some things that he has been working on since he is unable to do his Santa duties. The two head to the study, while the girls are in the kitchen.

"I see you and Connor have become pretty close," says Joyce as she dries her hands.

"What are you talking about, mom?" asks Buffy.

"Buffy, it's so obvious. Connor has a major crush on you ever since you were children. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had asked for your hand and marriage at age ten."

"Did he?"

"No."

"Mom, we're friends, that's all. We work together and…oh no."

"What?"

"I am getting too close to him. I kissed him."

"You what? Why didn't you tell me this?"

"No! Not that kind of kiss. On the cheek. Maybe he thinks it's something more. I'm leading him on. I'm so stupid." Buffy flops down on a chair.

"Buffy, you're not stupid, blind, but not stupid."

"What am I going to do?"

"You're going to act normal and if he confronts you, then you tell him the truth."

"That would break his heart."

"Buffy, you have to tell him the truth. He needs to know and not have false hope."

"I know, but I don't want this to ruin our relationship."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Ms. Claus.

The next day, Connor keeps avoiding Buffy every time he sees her. She is finding it amusing at first, but then it begins to get a little annoying.

"Buffy, what's up with Connor?" asks Willow.

"I haven't the slightest idea," says Buffy with check list in her hand.

"He seems to be avoiding you." Buffy looks at Willow and then she turns her head around and sees Connor turning around and walking the opposite from where she is.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"We had an occurred moment and he thinks it has ruined our friendship of some sort."

"Men. I swear, they just don't think." Buffy laughs at that. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. My dad didn't have this problem."

"If your dad had a very attractive female elf that had a crush on him, then he would."

"You know."

"Everyone knows. Connor has always had a crush on you. You seem to be the only one who doesn't notice."

"I mean he's sweet and all, but…"

"Come on, Buffy. He's pretty hot." Buffy blushes.

"Why don't you go out with him?"

"I have a boyfriend and you don't. If you're going to take Santa's reigns, then you gotta be with someone. He can be your Mrs. Claus." Willow laughs.

"Very funny, Willow."

"Well, you gotta do something instead of avoiding each other."

"I'm going to try something."

"What?"

"You'll see." Buffy hands Willow her list and pen, then heads over to where she sees Connor. He quickly turns around and walks away. Buffy starts to run and corners him behind one factory's machines. Connor sighs and sees Buffy walk over to him with a smile. "Connor…"

"No, you don't have to say anything, please," says Connor.

"But we need to talk. I know that you have this secret crush on me and I'm flattered really, but I don't love you in the way that you want me to love you. I've never had siblings and you were the closest to one." Connor looks at Buffy's green eyes.

"Can I just ask you for one thing?"

"Sure. What's that?" Connor walks over to her and kisses her on the lips. When he releases, he looks at her and she is surprised. "Whoa. You could have asked first."

"Would you have let me?"

"I would think about it." Connor laughs.

"Friends." Connor extends his hand out to her.

"Friends for life." Buffy smiles at him as she takes his hand. The two walk out of the corner. "You know, you're a really good kisser."

"Are you regretting not getting with me because I don't take charity cases."

"I'm not a charity case."

"Come on, you dropped me solid. You weren't going to give me the time of day."

"Well, right, you'll never know."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I could change my mind."

"You would?"

"You are so gullible." Buffy smiles and walks away.

"Damn, those lips were good."

"I heard that." Connor waves goodbye to her.

"Oh, Connor?" Buffy turns around. "You're still going shopping with me today, right?"

"Sure."

The two head back to the mall again. This time they had a list of stragglers and had to get them their toys. They headed for the toy department.

"At least it isn't that large," says Buffy. "I mean the last one, whoa."

"Yeah," replies Connor. "I got this new gadget from tech lab."

"What does it do?" asks Buffy.

"It shrinks anything into almost microscopic size. You could totally use this on the sleigh. Less weight, faster the trip."

"That's pretty neat. Can I try it?"

"Sure, just push this button here and aim at something."

"Okay." Connor looks around to make sure the coast is clear and Buffy presses the button. She shrinks a teddy bear. "Travel size teddy bear." They both look at the shelf to try to find the bear. "It's so tiny."

"Almost need a magnifying glass."

"How do you reverse it?" Connor changes the settings and returns the bear back to its regular size.

Meanwhile in the security room, the security guy calls Xander, who is making some calls in the room with him. Xander gets off the phone and looks at the camera. He immediately puts a smile on his face when he sees Buffy.

"She's back," says Xander to the security.

"Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to talk to about," says the security.

"Whatever it is, tell me later." Xander runs out of the room to try to get to where Buffy is. He is two feet away from her and he checks himself in a mirror for sunglasses and then walks slowly over like if he was just going that way and not stalking her. Xander hears her laugh at something when he makes his entrance, but they then start walking away to the opposite side of where he is walking to. He starts to go around in circles with them and gets a little dizzy at this rate. Xander stops and in less than two seconds, he loses them.

"I think this is what this person was trying to explain," says Buffy. "Don't you think we should get into the modern age and have e-mail letters? I think it would be easier at least for those who have computers and e-mail accounts. They can even put pictures of what they want if they don't know the name."

"Sounds like something your dad won't like," says Connor. "He likes the then more than the now."  
"I can see that. Last year he gave me a doll for Christmas. Can you say old fashioned, though the doll was pretty." Connor lowers his head and avoids her gaze. "What's the matter?"

"It's…I made the doll for you."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I wanted to give it you in person, but I was afraid."

"It's a beautiful doll. I'm glad I found out that you made it. Very good craftsmanship."

"Thanks."

"Let's take a break from this shopping madness." They already had one cart full of toys and headed for the register. Xander finally finds them, but at the moment is when everyone decides to crowd around the registers and he can't get to them.

"We're half way done. I can't believe we are so ahead of schedule and Christmas is only one day left."

"Oh, thank goodness. No more stragglers."

"I thought you liked shopping."

"I do, but more for me." Connor laughs as the two exit the store, with a whole bunch of bags. They head over to where no one can see them and use the shrink ray on the bags, then Buffy sticks them in her purse. "I love that thing." Buffy then starts to talk to Connor about food and Connor loses her when he sees a Santa display. He sees one of Santa's helpers, a young girl with redish, brown hair give candy canes to the children. Buffy continues on talking to herself. He walks over to the beginning of the line to get a better look at her.

"Excuse me, sir," says the young girl. "You have to wait in line for your turn." Connor looks at her and is mesmerized by her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Ms. Claus.

Connor comes out of his reverie and sees the young girl dressed like an elf tell him that he must get in line to take a picture with Santa. He nods at the girl and she heads back to her work. Connor then looks at the line. It is like a mile long. He sighs and heads over to the end.

About a half hour later, Connor is up soon and only has three kids in front of him. As soon as it was his turn, the young girl elf puts up the sign, out to lunch. Connor looks at her in disbelief.

"Sorry," says the girl. "Santa is on his break." The girl walks away and takes her hat off.

"Wait." The girl turns around and looks at Connor, whom she recognizes. She walks over to him.

"I can't believe you waited all that time just to get a picture with Santa. Aren't you a little old to believe in Santa?"

"No. No one is ever too old to believe in Santa." The girl raises her eyebrows at his comment.

"Okay, I'm going to go."

"Wait a minute." Connor follows her over to the stairs, where she exits the stage she is on. "I wasn't waiting for Santa." The girl looks at him, curious at what he had to say.

"Then who were you waiting for?"

"I was waiting for you." The girl blushes.

"Do you always say that to the girls dressed in elf costumes?" Connor smiles.

"Elves don't really dress like your dress. They have style. They dress like you and I would dress. Normal every day clothes."

"I'm sure they do." Dawn is smitten by this funny young man.

"Um, do you want to go to lunch with me?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Dawn smiles and walks beside him to the cafeteria.

Buffy is lost in the cafeteria in a large crowd, where she is left talking to herself. She is looking for Connor, who has disappeared from her sight.

"Where is he?" asks Buffy to herself, when she suddenly bumps into Xander. "Oops, sorry." She looks at who she bumped into and sees that it's Xander.

"Are you looking for me?" asks Xander. Buffy is surprised to see him.

"No," says Buffy truthfully, which hurts Xander's feelings a little. "I'm sorry. I was looking for Connor. He was here a minute ago." Buffy starts to look around.

"Well, he's not anymore. Mind if I invite you to lunch and please don't run away from me again."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disappear like that. Have a habit of doing that. I'll take your invitation to lunch."

"Okay." Xander takes her arm and leads her over to one of the stands.

The two are finished eating and they head out an exit, where they could see a mini theme park that a school has been working on and will open to the public for Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. The whole set has been finished and Xander knew how to turn on the lights. He switches the lights on and Buffy becomes overwhelmed by the hundreds of lights and decorations that surrounded her.

"It's so beautiful," says Buffy in awe of the sight. "It reminds me of home."

"Your block gets together and puts up lights and decorations?" asks Xander. "I love those places. Me and my family have a tradition. We always visit neighborhoods that decorate with tons of Christmas stuff and lights."

"That's a neat tradition."

"If you're not too busy, would you like to go with me tonight?" Buffy looks at Xander's eager eyes, who are saying 'please say yes'. She gives him a sweet smile.

"Sure, I'd love to." She grabs his hand and Xander finally takes a deep breath.

"Great." Xander smiles really big and continues to look at the lights and decorations with Buffy.

Back at the cafeteria, Connor and Dawn finish their lunch. They are walking back to the stage where Dawn works. Dawn stops and turns to Connor.

"Thanks for lunch," says Dawn. "I really enjoyed it."

"I'm glad," says Connor. "Though they make better pizza where I live."

"It wasn't that bad. I like burnt bubbles bread." Dawn laughs and so does Connor.

"Maybe someday, I'll take you to the pizzeria in my hometown."

"Where do you live?"

"It's ah, up north."

"Canada?"

"A little higher than that."

"You're a long way from home, aren't you?"

"Yeah."  
"You have family around here?"

"No."

"You're all by yourself?"

"Not really. I was here with a friend, whom I can't seem to find. We must have separated with the big crowd."

"Well, I'd like to help, but my break is over."

"It's okay."  
"Still wanna take a picture with Santa?"

"Um…"

"Come on." Dawn pulls him up onto the stage. The guy playing Santa sits down on the seat and adjusts his beard. "Angel, do you mind taking one picture before we open again. I'll pay for it, I promise."

"No, you don't have to do that," says Connor.

"I want to."

"No one is paying anything," says Angel in the Santa outfit. "I'll pay it."

"Angel is such an angel," says another girl dressed like an elf and the one who takes the pictures.

"Cordy, your husband is the greatest," says Dawn giving her a hug.

"I know. That's why I married him. Now, hurry up. We've got people waiting." Dawn and Connor head over to both Santa's side and Cordy takes the picture.

"Thanks, sis," says Dawn to Cordy. She then gives Dawn the pictures and Dawn shows them to Connor. "It's not bad." She hands him one of the pictures and keeps the other for herself. Connor looks at Dawn and smiles at her.

"Thanks," says Connor. "Thanks a lot." Connor, without thinking, kisses Dawn on the cheek and then waves goodbye to Cordy and Angel.

"He's cute," says Cordy. "New boyfriend, Dawn?"

"No, I just met him," replies Dawn as she puts her elf hat back on. "He's a long way from home and he's got no family here."

"How is he away from his family so close to Christmas?" Dawn heads over to where the line of people and kids started. She switches the sign. She then walks over to Angel.

"I don't know. He seems to believe in Santa Clause and elves."

"Where does he live?" asks Angel as he pulls down his red Santa suit and adjusts the chair he is sitting on.

"He didn't tell me exactly. He said it was up north."

"Up north like the North Pole?"

"Don't be silly, Cordy."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Ms. Claus.

Xander and Buffy re-enter the mall. They head over to the department store and somehow find something fascinating with their shows. Buffy then looks up and smiles.

"Thanks for lunch again," says Buffy.

"What time do you want me to pick you up at your place?" asks Xander.

"Oh, um, my place. Can't we just meet right here?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight at seven." Buffy walks away smiling and not looking at where she was going. She crashes into someone and it happens to be Connor. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Where were you?" asks Connor.

"I was with Xander," says Buffy. "He asked me to lunch and he asked me out on a date. Well, sort of a date. For tonight to see lighted houses."

"You see lighted houses at home all the time. What kind of a date is that?"

"It's Christmasy and I like lighted houses."

"Okay."

"Do I sense jealousy in that tone?"

"No, a little. Look, I was checking the lists and I ran into some old lists. It was around the 1980's and I happen to run into Alexander Harris."

"And?"

"And he was a non-lister."

"What are you trying to say?"

"He doesn't believe in Santa Claus. He never did as a child and neither did his parents." Buffy is surprise by this. "I sort of traced his parents back to some older lists."

"It doesn't matter." Buffy walks away.

"I think it does matter. A lot."

"I'm not serious with him. It's just one date. One stupid date!" Buffy storms off out of the mall.

"Buffy, wait." Connor runs after her. Dawn, from the Santa stage, sees Connor running after a blonde out of the mall.

"Hey, we need you up front," says Cordy.

"In a minute," says Dawn. Cordy sees Connor exit the mall.

"Maybe it's his friend."

"I don't think so. She looked like she was crying." Dawn looks at Cordy who she had not known was watching what she was watching.

Connor catches Buffy before she runs into the parking lot. He pulls her toward him and makes her look at him.

"Buffy, listen to me," says Connor. Buffy turns away. "Please." She rolls her eyes and looks at him with watery eyes. "Maybe he's different. I mean, if he can pull off all those decorations in that department store, then maybe there is something about him that believes."

"You think?" says Buffy in a soft voice.

"I hope so."

"Thanks."

"Alright, let's go home. You've got a date." Buffy smiles as they walk over to the undercover parking lot and behind some stairs. She snaps her fingers and they were gone.

Buffy is in her room looking for something to wear. Her whole wardrobe is red, white, green, and pink. Her mother comes into her room and sits on the bed.

"I'm so nervous," says Buffy turning around to her mom.

"Don't be," says Joyce. "You'll be fine."

"I don't know. I've never been with a mortal, human…what do we call them now?"

"A regular person, non magical, normal." Buffy laughs and sits on the bed with her mom. "Sweetheart, it's no different with any other date you've been on."

"Yes, it is. Other dates I never had to hide who I am. I'm Ms. Claus, the reigning Santa Claus this year. I mean, what do you think he is going to say when I tell him that?"

"Okay, he might laugh, but…"

"I don't think I should be doing this. It's too close to Christmas. I should be at the shop." Buffy gets up and attempts to walk out the door. Joyce stops her.

"No. You should be here picking out an outfit to go out with…what was his name?"

"Xander."

"Xander." Buffy sighs. "Sweetheart, everything is going to be fine. Maybe you'll put in some of the Christmas spirit into him. You'll see." Buffy nods her head as her mother kisses her forehead. "Have fun."

Buffy pulls out a red skirt and a pink shirt, then tosses them onto her bed. She searches for her black, long, high heeled boots and her red jacket that goes down to her thighs. Minutes later, she had everything on and is ready to go.

In the blink of an eye, she arrives at the mall. She fixes her hair on the door to the mall and enters inside. She heads over to the department store and her eyes fall onto a beautiful object.

"Oh my gosh," says Buffy. "This would be perfect for Connor." Buffy agrees to buy it and uses the shrink ray on it to put it in her purse. She then is surprised by Xander, who is all in black.

"Hi," says Xander. "You look amazing."

"Thank you." Buffy smiles.

"Shall we go?" Buffy nods and puts her hand on his as he leads her out to his car, a BMW.

"Nice car."

"This is my night car."

"Night car?"

"I only use it during the night. I have something simpler for the day."

"Oh." Xander opens the door for Buffy and she steps in. He gets in the car and they drive off. The two are quiet on the way. Xander looks at Buffy.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Buffy turns to him.

"Me? No. Not at all."

"You seem uncomfortable."

"No, it's nothing really. Back home we really don't see many of these cars. Well, only if they're gifts, but usually they are hand made at the factory."

"Factory?"

"Never mind."

"Okay." Xander arrives at a big house. Buffy's eyes widen. It's not because it's big because her house is pretty big, too, but more because it's more like a castle. Xander opens the door for her. Buffy steps out.

"Nice place," says Buffy.

"Thanks. Come on. You can meet my folks."

"Oh, goody." Buffy mumbles under her breath. Xander leads her to the front door and the door opens. A person who is very welcoming and happy welcomes Buffy and Xander into the house.

"Hey, everyone, I'd like you to meet Buffy." Xander introduces Buffy to everyone. Everyone says hi to her at the same time.

"You have a big family."

"They're mostly friends, but we're all family."

"That's nice." Buffy smiles. She has hope for Xander Harris, even though he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, he still has the Christmas spirit and that is important.

A couple minutes later, they all head to their cars to go to the lighted complexes. Xander and Buffy enter his car and they had an extra passenger. The young girl sits in the back seat. Buffy turns her head around and sees the girl. She doesn't recognize her, but she recognizes Buffy.

"Dawn, put on your seatbelt," says Xander as he turns on the car. Dawn nods her head and does what she is told.

"What's your name again?" asks Dawn.

"Buffy," replies Buffy.

"I'm Dawn. Xander's sister."

"Yep, the runt of the litter," says Xander.

"Am not. That's you." Buffy laughs at their bickering. She then checks her cell phone, which is pink and not just a regular cell phone. "Cool, where did you get that?"

"My dad gave it to me last Christmas," replies Buffy. "It pretty much does everything."

"Really?" says Xander. "Does it do long arithmetic?"

"Oh, yes. In less than two point two seconds." Xander laughs at that. Buffy notices that she has a message. She listens to it and finds out that it's Willow telling her to turn her camera on her cell phone. Buffy does what her friend tells her and her eyes widen when she sees her friend from her phone.

"Buffy, let me see him please," says Willow.

"Alright," says Buffy.

"Alright what?" asks Xander.

"Nothing. Can I take your picture?"

"Sure. Get my good side." Buffy snaps the picture and Willow sees it.

"He is gorgeous, Buffy," says Willow. Buffy laughs and smiles a little.

"What's so funny?" asks Xander. "Do I look that bad?"

"No, it's not that," replies Buffy. "Oh, look at the lights." Buffy quickly changes the subject as they approach the neighborhoods filled with Christmas decorations and lights all aglow.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9. Ms. Claus.

I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I couldn't finish it on time. So have a little Christmas after Christmas. LOL.

"Wow, look at that Santa Claus," says Dawn. "He must be like ten feet tall."

"Hey, he should go out for a basketball team," says Xander.

Still on the phone, Willow begins to tell Buffy a couple of things. Buffy ignores them because she is trying to pay attention to what Xander is saying and the lights.

"Use a little magic, Buffy," says Willow. "It's not going to hurt."

"No," says Buffy a little too loud. Dawn and Xander look at her.

"No what?" asks Xander.

"I forgot to do something and I just remembered now," says Buffy with a smile.

"So, Buffy," says Dawn. "Have any boyfriends?" Xander glares at his sister for asking such a question. Buffy is confused why she would ask this question.

"No, I don't," replies Buffy.

"That was a very rude question, Dawn," says Xander. Dawn sits back into her seat. "I apologize for my sister's behavior. She can sometimes get a little overprotective of me."

"I thought it was supposed to be the other way around," says Buffy about the brother, sister tradition. "The big brother is overprotective of the little sister."

"Yeah, but my other sister, Cordelia is the one who gets to be overprotective of Dawn. We gave each other jobs when we were little."

"I kind of got gypped," says Dawn. "How am I supposed to protect my big brother if he never listens to me?" Xander rolls his eyes at Dawn.

"Because I know what I am doing," says Xander.

"And I don't?"

"Dawn, when you're older you'll understand, okay?" Xander turns to look at the road as he drives.

"So, Buffy, where do you live?" Xander rolls his eyes again as he continues to drive down a block.

"Um, up north," replies Buffy. "Way up north."

"Really? I met a guy at the mall and he said the same thing. Maybe you know him?"

"A guy?" Xander looks at Dawn and then at Buffy.

"Yeah, his name is Connor." Xander stops the car and gets out. He opens the back door and pulls Dawn out of the car and then closes the door.

"What are you doing?" asks Xander. "You're embarrassing me. Stop with the questions, okay?"

"I'm just curious," says Dawn. "I saw her crying and the guy I met at the mall, Connor was talking to her at the time. They looked pretty close."

"They're not. I know who you're talking about and he's just a friend."

"Then why is she so vague about where she lives?"

"It's not the appropriate question to ask on a first date, okay?"

"Look, it's not that I don't like her, it's that I'm concerned about…"

"Why she was with the guy you liked?"

"Okay, so what if I am?"

"This has nothing to do with me."

"It has something to do with her." Dawn points at Buffy in the car.

"They're friends. That's all. Deal with it."

Back in the car, Buffy tries to listen to their conversation, but is having one of her own with Willow, who is still on the phone.

"What do I do?" asks Buffy. "This is all a mess. I knew I shouldn't have said yes."

"Buffy, calm down," says Willow.

"I'm getting too involved. This is a bad sign." Buffy then opens her door and when she steps out, something is very strange. She walks up to Xander and Dawn, who are not moving or talking. "Uh oh."

"Buffy, what's wrong?"

"I think I froze time. Oh, my dad's going to kill me."

"Undo it."

"I don't know how I did it. How am I supposed to undo it?"

"Um, just relax and think about what you were thinking when it happened."

"Well, maybe it's when I said in my head I wish time would stop."

"That could be it."

"I wish time would begin." Time quickly resumes its course and Xander sees Buffy out of the car.

"Buffy," says Xander. Dawn turns around and wonders how she got out of the car, without her feeling the motion of the car since she is leaning against it. "I'm so sorry about this."

"It's fine," says Buffy. "I'm not feeling well right now." Xander quickly goes over to her side.

"Oh, what can I do?"

"Just take me back to the mall. I parked my car there."

"I'll take you home. I have no problem."

"You can't take me home. It's too far."

"I don't care."

"Please, just take me to the mall." Xander bows his head and then glares at his sister. He just enters the car and turns it on. Buffy gets in and so does Dawn. When they arrive at the mall, Buffy exits the car. Xander comes out and heads over to her.

"I'm so sorry about all this," says Xander. "I want to make it up to you."

"It's not your fault," says Buffy. "It's me."

"No, look the offer still stands if you want to come to my family's Christmas Eve party. I want you to come."

"I don't know if I can make it."

"Can I at least walk you to your car?" Buffy sees his hopeful eyes and could not bear to say no to him. She nods her head and leads the way to the parking lot. "What kind of car do you have?"

"Um." Buffy looks left and Xander looks left with her. She then with her right finger, points at an empty spot and magically a 2003 Honda Accord LX in red appears. She turns her head around. "There it is." Buffy walks over to the car and magically pulls out some keys from her purse.

"Nice." Xander opens the door for her and Buffy gets in. Buffy puts the key into the ignition of the car and rolls her window down. She pulls out the key as Xander closes the door for her. Xander then pulls out a card from his wallet and hands it to Buffy. "If you change your mind, that's my cell." Buffy looks at him and is sad to see him go. She rolls up her window as Xander walks out of the parking lot.

She looks straight at the wall in front of her and then at the rearview mirror. Buffy tries to hold her emotions in as Xander heads back to his car, but she couldn't. Buffy starts to cry uncontrollably on the wheel.

After Xander gets into his car, he notices that Buffy has not turned her car on. He stays and watches her for a while. Buffy looks through her rearview mirror and sees Xander's car in the same place. She decides to turn on the car and backs up. Then she stops time of a nano second, so that he would not try to follow her and uses her magic to get back to the North Pole. After the nano second occurs, Xander is confused that he's lost sight of her car. He drives around the lot, but does not see her car anywhere. Then he just drives home.

When Buffy pulls up to her house in the North Pole, her mother comes out and hugs her as she exits the car. Buffy cries some more on her mother's shoulder.

"Oh, sweetheart," says Joyce. "Mortals can be so cruel." Joyce leads her to the house.

Willow comes out of Buffy's house; she was there telling Joyce about what happened to Buffy and her date. Connor just happens to be on his way to the Claus' house and sees Buffy crying on her mother's shoulder. As Buffy pulls away, she sees Connor and hugs him tight.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Almost to the end. Will Buffy choose her calling as Ms. Santa Claus, or will she be with Xander?

Connor can hear her sobbing so hard and he feels for her. He wants to make her stop, but he doesn't know how. He wants to punch the living daylights out of that Xander Harris for making her have such a horrible date, but he can't. Buffy would get mad.

Everyone enters the house and they all sit down in the living room. Buffy's tears finally subside and she could be understood as she begins to tell them all what happened on her date.

Both Joyce and Willow try to hold their laughter in, but could not help it. They burst out laughing hysterically. Buffy looks at them as the two try to compose themselves, when they see Buffy not enjoying their laughing at her story.

"I'm sorry, Buffy," says Willow. "I guess it was my fault. I shouldn't have told you to use your powers. You were nervous and your emotions were loopy."

"You told her to use her powers?" says Connor to Willow.

"Don't get mad at Willow, Connor," says Buffy. "The date was a disaster to begin with. I should have never gotten involved with him. It was the wrong thing to do and I'm not going to see him again."

"Buffy, you were happy when you talked about him for the first time," says Joyce. "How could you say that you don't want to see him again?"

"I just don't."

Giles walks into the room and everyone looks up at him. He heads over to Buffy's side and he takes her hand in his.

"You were right. You've always said that getting personal with humans lead to trouble. I've followed the rules all my life until now. Now I know it's true."

"No, it's not," says Giles. "Humans are difficult to understand, but there is one thing we have in common with them."

"What's that?"

"Love. Humans have a lot of it. Sometimes they don't use it the right way and sometimes they only use it on holidays. My point is that because this young man, a believer or not, has gotten the courage to ask you out every time he saw you, then that should point to one thing."

"What?"

"That perhaps as much as you love him, he loves you in return."

"I want to believe that, but I can't. I'm sorry. I'm going to go." Buffy gets up and heads to her room.

"That was really nice what you said to her, dear," says Joyce.

"I tried," says Giles as he tries to get up. Connor quickly helps him. "Connor, you've been a great help. She'll need some time to sort this through, could you…?"

"No need to ask," says Connor. "How you feeling?"

"Pretty good. Came back from the doctors and as you can see not much progress. Buffy will have to do the round trip herself. I really hope she is up to it."

"I'm sure she will."

The next day, Christmas Eve, Buffy has an early start and is already in the shop checking out the last minute stuff before the big ride. She heads over to the stall, where the reindeers are kept and makes sure they are all ready for the flight.

Connor finally catches up to her in her office. He closes the door and walks up to her. Buffy is checking her list for the second time and is ignoring Connor, who is walking over to her desk.

"Buffy?" says Connor. Buffy doesn't answer him and kept on checking her lists. Connor puts his hand on her list. She looks at him.

"What do you want?" asks Buffy, annoyed that he interrupted her.

"I want you to stop."

"I can't. I need to finish this."

"No! You need to relax. Look, I don't think…"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

"Buffy…"

"Excuse me, I need to finish this." Buffy puts her attention back on her lists. Connor walks away and towards the door. He stops and turns around. Rolling his eyes, he opens the door and leaves the room.

Willow catches up to Connor as he exits the office and pulls him over to a corner. He is surprised and looks at her as she looks around to make sure that no one is listening.

"We need to do something," says Willow. "I think that she really has strong feelings for this guy and he has feelings for her, too."

"What do you want to do?" asks Connor. "She won't stop working."

"She needs to go to that Christmas party. I've got his number." Willow shows Connor the card that Xander had given to Buffy. She then pulls out her cell phone.

"He's going to know you're not Buffy."

"I've got that covered." Willow pulls out a voice changer device. "I was playing with it with Buffy and I've got her voice reading." She speaks into the phone and then plays it back to Connor.

"Hi, my name is Buffy." The voice sounds exactly like Buffy's.

"Wow."

"Those tech guys are great." Willow smiles as she starts to dial Xander's number.

"Hello," says Xander on the other line.

"Hi, it's Buffy," says Willow in Buffy's voice.

"Oh, I'm glad you called."

"I want to apologize about last night and I would like to come to your Christmas party."

"Really, I mean that's great. What time can I pick you up?"

"Um, I'll meet you there."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"She is so going to kill you," says Connor as Willow hangs up.

"Nah," says Willow. "She loves me. She'd never kill me."

"How are we going to get her there? She'll never go."

"That's your part."

"My part!"

"Yeah, I call and you get her there."

"Gee, thanks."

"Now scoot." Willow pushes him over to Buffy's office.

"What should I say?"

"Be commanding and lie to her."

"Good idea." Connor opens the door and walks over to her desk. Buffy rolls her eyes when she sees him.

"What now?" asks Buffy.

"I need you to do a pick up."

"Pick up?"

"It's important. It needs to be done at around six."

"That's cutting it close. I'm needed here."

"Everything is fine and I'll handle it. I'll send a driver with you."

Later that day, Buffy heads to her house to take a shower and pick her clothes for tonight. Joyce comes over to Buffy's room and sees her in her pink robe trying to decide what to wear.

"I think that dress would be nice," says Joyce.

"It's too fancy, Mom," says Buffy.

"So what?"

"I'll think about it."

After her shower, Buffy actually decides to wear the dress that Joyce suggested and heads outside to the car that waits for her to take her to the pick up she needed to do. Buffy thinks that this pick up is very mysterious, but decides to ignore her intuitions and gets into the car.

The car has tinted windows and Buffy can hardly see outside. She wonders where the pick up is. The car then stops and Buffy grabs the handle to exit, but someone is already opening it for her. Buffy pulls her hand back and sees the door open.

When the door is completely open, she finally sees who the person is. She is surprised to see this person and hesitates to come out of the car to take his hand. Buffy glares at the driver of her car, then takes the guy's hand and steps out.

"I'm so glad you could make it," says Xander.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

Buffy gives him a smile just to make him feel better. It isn't his fault that her friends had gone behind her back and tricked her to go to the Christmas Party she said she would not be going to from the very beginning.

Xander leads her over to his house, the same one she had seen and been in the night before. She takes a deep breath and walks in. The place is booming with music and people having conversations.

"Would you excuse me?" says Buffy. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, right this way," replies Xander as he leads her to the nearest bathroom. Buffy enters and takes her cell phone out.

"You better pick up if you know what's good for you," says Buffy to herself.

"Hi," says Connor.

"You are so dead."

"Buffy, it wasn't Connor's fault," says Willow, who took Connor's phone from him. "I wanted to do this for you. You know you are glad that you are there."

"Willow…" Buffy sulks a little. "I don't like you pulling stuff behind my back, but you're right. I am happy I'm here."

"You see, friends know best."

"I know." Buffy laughs and then looks at herself in the mirror. "I've never felt like this about anyone before, Willow. I don't know what I'm going to do tonight."

"Buffy, you could tell him the truth."

"That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Give me the phone," says Connor as he grabs his phone back. "Buffy, you should have fun. The driver will pick you up at eleven forty-five."

"Alright," says Buffy taking a deep breath and fixing her hair. "It's like Cinderella."

"Yeah, just like Cinderella." Connor smiles, even though Buffy doesn't see it.

"Oh, Connor. Xander's sister, Dawn. She asked about you. I think she really likes you."

"She does? She's Xander's sister?"

"Yeah, what a small world. She was jealous."

"Of what?"

"Of me."

"What?"

"She must have seen us at the mall when you told me about…"

"Oh."

"Well, I better go or he might think I drowned."

"Okay."

"Bye, Buffy," says Willow. Buffy hangs up and puts away her phone. She exits the bathroom and sees Xander turn around.

"Hey, come meet my folks," says Xander.

"Okay," replies Buffy with a smile.

"This is Jenny Calendar Harris and John Harris."

"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers. It's nice to meet you." Buffy shakes their hands and they smile at her.

"We're so glad you could come," says Jenny.

"I'm glad to be here," replies Buffy with a smile.

"Xander, she's simply breathtaking." Jenny whispers to her son as her husband greets her. "Don't let this one get away."

"I won't, Mom," replies Xander with a sheepish smile. His dad winks at him in approval of Buffy and heads over to his wife's side. "My parents, they are an odd couple."

"That's how all parents are," says Buffy. "You should meet mine…"

"Maybe I will sometime."

"It will be hard because they are always so busy."

"They don't celebrate the holidays?"

"No, it's not that. They have a business and it gets pretty busy during this time of year."

"Oh, so what do you do?"

"I work for my dad. First year."

"Really, doing what?"

"Ah, his job at the moment. He kind of broke his ankle, but he's alright."

"Well, that's good. I hope he's feeling better whenever I get to meet him."

"Xander," calls a blonde from across the room.

"Oh, great," says Xander as he rolls his eyes.

"Xander, I was looking everywhere for you," says the blonde. She begins to pull him away from Buffy.

"Anya, I'm with someone."

"Who is this?"

"Anya, this is Buffy Summers."

"Nice to meet you. Xander and I used to be together, until he got that silly department store job from his dad." Anya folds her arms across her chest. "How did you two meet?"

"Oh, it was at the mall," says Buffy. "Xander here helped me with some shopping I needed to do."

"Well, wasn't that nice of him?"

"Nice dress. Looks like it could fall right off." Anya glares at Buffy.

"Xander and I go way back. I was his high school sweetheart and we went to prom together."

"Is that so? I've heard relationships that start in high school never last through college."

"We were happy. He happens to give many orgas…" Xander covers Anya's mouth.

"Anya, you promised me not to ever say that in public," says Xander. A waiter comes by and Xander grabs two drinks from the tray. He gives one to Buffy and drinks the other himself.

"Sorry, I just thought that your friend should know all about us and that our love is still really strong," says Anya. Buffy then spills her drink on both of them, but mostly on Xander.

"Oh, I'm such a klutz," says Buffy as she grabs a napkin from a table and starts to wipe Xander in the lower crotch area. Xander is surprised that she keeps wiping the same spot over and over again. Anya looks angry as she sees Buffy touching Xander the way she is. She then storms off. "I think you better change." Xander grabs Buffy's hand.

"Thanks," says Xander. "Come on, help me pick out something." Xander pulls her up the stairs. They walk down a long corridor and enter a room. Xander closes the door behind them. "Make yourself comfortable." Xander heads over to his closet and takes out a couple of pants and shirts.

"Nice room," says Buffy looking around. Then her eyes fell on an old snow globe by the window. She walks over to it and picks it up. Xander sees that she has the globe in her hand.

"You like it?" Buffy looks at him. "I've had it for like…"

"Nineteen years."

"How did you guess?"

"I had one." Buffy looks down at the snow globe. "When I was little. My dad gave it to me. He said it was a special gift from Santa Claus."

"Santa Claus?" Xander smiles at that. "It's funny. The card on the box to that very snow globe nineteen years ago said _a special gift from Santa Claus_."

Buffy puts the snow globe down and walks over to Xander. He shows her the pants and shirts he had in his closet that are placed on the bed. Buffy looks down at them.

"I like the blue better."

"Me, too." Xander grabs the suit and heads into his bathroom to change.

"Um, Xander?" Buffy approaches the bathroom door.

"Yeah."

"Did you ever believe in Santa Claus?"

"Huh?" Xander is confused by this question that she is asking him. He opens the bathroom door and looks at her.

"Never mind." Xander shrugs and then tries to tie his tie. "Here, let me. I'm a pro at this."

"Tied your dad's ties?"

"No, he doesn't wear a tie to work."

"Oh, lucky him."

"There you go."

"I've never met a girl who knew how to do this except my mom." Xander looks at himself in a mirror, then brushes his hair a little with his hand. "How did you learn how to do it?"

"Oh, some guy. Umm, we better get…"

"Oh, your other boyfriends." Xander walks up to the door.

"Not exactly." Buffy heads over to the door as Xander opens it. He decides to not ask her anymore questions as they exit his bedroom.

"Whoa, you are fast," says Dawn as she sees them exit Xander's bedroom.

"Dawn," says Xander in a stern voice. "Buffy spilled something on me by accident and I went up here to change."

"Is that what their calling it these days? Went up to change."

"Dawn."

"Whatever. Could I talk to Buffy for a minute? Alone."

"Are you going to apologize for last night?"

"Maybe."

"I'll be downstairs."

"Okay," says Buffy as she watches him walk down the corridor. "What is it you want to tell me?"

"First," says Dawn. "Sorry about last night. I just…I saw you at the mall with Connor and you looked pretty close. I kind of got…"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, and seeing that you're the girl my brother won't stop talking about, I was worried he made another mistake in picking a girl and I was worried that I found a guy who was taken."

"Connor's my best friend. He's kind and sweet. We've known each other like forever."

"I guess you're the friend he is staying with. He says he lives up north like you said. I kind of wanted to see him again."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Really?"

"Promise."

"Thanks." Dawn hugs Buffy.

"How did you two meet?"

"Oh, I was at my job at the mall playing an elf in the Santa display."

"Oh." Buffy begins to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Come on; let's go back to the party." The girls head down and as Buffy walks down the steps, she sees Xander dancing with Anya.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

Buffy's eyes widen at the sight of Anya's hands all over Xander. She is furious that she is dancing with him. Suddenly, time begins to slow down and Buffy puts on a smile. She heads over to Xander and Anya. Time had stopped as Xander is swinging Anya away from him. Buffy decides to push Anya's grip on Xander's hand a little, then walks back to the stairs.

"Time resume," says Buffy silently. As the time comes back, Anya falls on the ground on her butt.

"Anya," says Xander in shock and half laughing about it. Dawn and Buffy come over to where the two are. Xander helps Anya up and Anya sees Buffy. "I don't know what happened. I'm really sorry."

"I'd like to have a dance with you?" asks Buffy innocently. Xander smiles at her and takes her hand, ignoring Anya as she storms off. Dawn shakes her head and smiles at the two.

They dance to a soft ballad and stare at each other. Lost in each other's trance for mere minutes, when Xander breaks their trance with words.

"I've got it," says Xander. Buffy looks at him strangely, wondering what he means. "When I was around eight and I asked Santa for a video game. It was one of those that were pretty pricy and it was brand new in the market. My parents had told me that Santa wasn't real and that they bought me the gifts, but I still sent the letter. I don't know why. Then came that Christmas day and I saw that my parents were surprised that I had gotten the video game. I was young and I didn't realize that the video game really did come from some one other than my family."

Buffy is surprised to hear this from him. She was right about him, he does believe. Suddenly, the clock strikes eleven o'clock. Cinderella has only 45 minutes till she turn into a pumpkin and never see her prince charming again. Buffy takes a deep breathe and decides on something.

"Xander, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"Can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure." They head over to Xander's dad's den. Xander closes the door and turns to Buffy, who is looking all nervous. He walks up to her and is about to grab her hands to calm her, when she springs out with an unexpected question.

"Do you still believe in Santa Claus?" Xander looks at her strangely for a bit.

"Buffy, that was a long time ago. Why are you so rapt up about the subject?"

"Because what I'm about to tell you is relevant to it."

"Huh?"

"Xander, my dad, well he's…he's Santa Claus and this year I'm taking over his reigns because he broke his ankle. My best friends are elves, I live in the North Pole, my first pet was a reindeer, and I have special abilities."

"What?"

Meanwhile at the party, someone rings the doorbell and Dawn heads over to get it. When she opens it, she is surprised to see Connor at the other side of it. Dawn gasps and is silent for a second.

"You live here?" asks Connor.

"Ah huh," replies Dawn. "What are you doing here?"

"Buffy's here. I need to see her."

"Oh, sure." Dawn allows him to enter. "This way." The two go through the crowd.

Back in the den, Xander is sitting down, taking all that Buffy has told him in. He thinks that this could all be a dream, but it isn't. There is a woman standing in front him telling him that she is Santa Claus' daughter.

"The gifts I bought at your store the first day were for the children who didn't send any letters. Even if they are non believers or don't send a letter, they still get presents from Santa," says Buffy trying to continue explaining this to Xander. "The other gifts were for the elves, girls and boys."

"This is all too…" Xander begins to say.

"Weird."

"A little. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but it is." Xander stands up and runs his hand through his hair.

"I know it does and that's why I didn't want this to get serious, but it did and…"

"You were trying to push me away last night, weren't you?"

"Yes." Buffy nods her head. "It wasn't because of Dawn or anything else."

"But you called and you apologized."

"That wasn't me. That was my friend Willow who used a voice changing device."

"It sounded just like you."

"I know it's a pretty amazing gadget. Those elves, the things they come up with these days."

"You didn't want to come tonight, did you?" Xander is hurt and stares at Buffy, who feels like she's been shot by a bullet.

"I was tricked into coming, but when I saw you open the door, every doubt in my mind told me that my friends made the right decision in messing in my life." Buffy's eyes connected with Xander's and his sad expression changed.

"I knew that there was something special about you, but I didn't think this." Xander sighs and walks over to Buffy. He grabs her hands. "I am glad you came. I know that this was a hard thing for you, but I've got one question."

"What?"

"How do you go around the world and distribute so many gifts in one night?"

"That's easy. We use magic."

"Oh, now that makes a lot of sense." Xander smiles at that.

"We can freeze time and a lot of other things. Plus the time zones totally help out a lot. We do strategize the route."

"A lot of work goes into this, doesn't it? It's like running a company. There is work everyday especially on the holidays."

"Yeah, we work all year to get all the presents made and when the letters start coming, is when we get real busy."

"When do you have to go?"

"At 11:45 they're picking me up." They both look at the clock in the room. It's 11:20PM. The two look at each and are about to kiss, when someone knocks on the door. They both close their eyes.

"Who is it?" asks Xander as he rolls his eyes.

"Xander, it's Dawn," says Dawn. "Buffy has someone here to see her."

Buffy turns around and goes over to the door. She opens it and sees Dawn and Connor together.

"Buffy, we need to go now," says Connor.

"What?" says Buffy. "Why?"

"We have a problem with the…" Connor looks at Xander and tries to pull Buffy away. She pulls back away from him.

"It's okay, Connor. I told him."

"You told him." Connor looks at Xander. "And he's not freaking out?"

"No, I'm not," says Xander. "What's the problem?"

"The sleigh. It's broken."

"What!" says Buffy.

"Can't you fix it?" says Xander.

"No, it's not something that will take five minutes," says Connor. "More like three weeks."

"Does my father know about this?" asks Buffy.

"No."

"Okay, we just gotta think of something, quick."

"I'm completely lost in this conversation," says Dawn. "But if you guys are in need of a sleigh, I know where to get one." They all look at Dawn.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

"What are we waiting for?" says Buffy. "Lead the way."

"Okay," says Dawn. They all head to the door. "But someone has got to explain this to me."

"Connor, you tell her." Buffy and Xander rush over to his car.

"Thanks," says Connor. He faces Dawn. "Short version. Buffy is Ms. Claus, I'm an elf, we need a sleigh pronto, so we can distribute the gifts around the world." Connor opens the back door for Dawn.

"Are you serious?" says Dawn.

"No time for reactions, Dawn," says Xander as he turns on the car. "Get in."

Dawn gets in and so does Connor.

"Head for the mall," says Dawn. "The only sleigh I know is the one at the display."

When they arrive at the mall, it is deserted. Every store is closed for the night. The four sneak over to the back of the mall nearest the covered parking lot.

"The security," says Xander. "I have a key, but they'll see us in the security cameras."

"No sweat," says Buffy. "I'm all over that. Connor, stay out here with Dawn."

Connor grabs Dawn's hand and she finds it strange for him to do that.

"Holding hand privileges it's a first date thing," says Dawn. "Do you want to call this a date?"

"No, it's not…" Connor tries to explain. "You'll see."

Before Xander and Buffy enter the mall, Buffy closes her eyes and whispers something to herself. As she is doing that she grabs Xander's hand. Xander looks at her strangely because he has no idea what she is doing. She opens her eyes.

"Okay, let's go," says Buffy pulling him over to the door.

Xander shrugs and opens the door with his key. "What did you do?" asks Xander.

"Oh, a little magic." Buffy smiles at that as they head into the mall.

Back outside, Dawn notices something really strange. She sees a bird in midair just floating.

"How?" says Dawn looking at Connor.

"Magic," says Connor. He smiles at her as she keeps looking at the bird.

Buffy and Xander approach the Santa display in the mall that has a sleigh in it. "That'll work." Buffy points her at the sleigh and snaps her fingers. The sleigh disappears before their very eyes.

"Wow."

"Thanks."

They head back the way they came and meet up with Dawn and Connor. Buffy then makes time to resume its course and they quickly head back to the car.

"That was cool," says Dawn. "Can you do that?"

"No, but I'm immune to their magic's," says Connor.

"Wait a minute," says Xander remembering two particular moments when Buffy possibly used her stopping time powers. "Did you use that on our first date?"

"Yeah, I kind of did, but it was an accident," says Buffy. "It was my first time."

"Is that why you were freaked out?"

"That was part of it."

"And you did it again when I was dancing with Anya."

"Yeah, that one was on purpose." Xander smiles at her.

"You can do that anytime you want?"

"Yeah, but I'm really not supposed to. So, keep this between us."

"Okay."

"Come on, Buffy," says Connor. "We haven't got time."

"Oh, yes, we do," says Buffy as she stops time once again. She pulls Xander close and kisses him on the lips for the first time. They felt like it lasted forever and it could have, if Buffy didn't decide to continue time. When they released, they looked at each other and were both happy with the kiss.

"You gotta go," says Xander.

"But I don't want to," says Buffy.

"You know you gotta."

"Okay." Buffy smiles at him and caresses his face then she makes time move again.

"Are you ready?" says Connor, waiting patiently. Buffy nods her head.

"Wait," says Dawn. She walks over to Connor and takes off her necklace that has her birthstone on it. "Here." She puts the necklace on him. "It has my name on the back, so you remember me."

Connor has never received a gift with such love. He looks at the stone and turns it. On the back are Dawn's name and her birth date. He looks back at her and smiles. Then he holds it close to his heart and puts it in his jacket pocket.

"I'll never forget you," says Connor. He caresses her cheek and Dawn closes her eyes to enjoy every moment that he is touching her. Connor then moves closer to her and kisses her on her forehead.

"Come on, Connor," says Buffy.

"Coming," says Connor. He heads over to Buffy and grabs her hand. In an instant, the two disappear.

Dawn goes over to Xander and hugs him. They both look up into the sky and find the North Star.

"She's a keeper," says Dawn as she looks up at Xander.

"I know," replies Xander.

Meanwhile, at the North Pole, the elves are busy transferring all the presents to the new sleigh that Buffy transported to the factory. As soon as Buffy is dressed for the ride, the elves are putting the last presents in.

"Alright," says Buffy standing on the sleigh and getting everyones attention. "Thank you all so much for your hard work. You don't know how much we, my family and I, appreciate it. So, to show my appreciation, Connor, would you do the honors?"

Connor pulls out a small bag full of many things. He then uses the device that makes things big and the bag expands into a huge bag of an enormous amount of presents.

"These are for you," says Buffy. "Merry Christmas. Enjoy." The elves all went to the bags and started to find gifts for each and every one of them. They are so pleased.

Buffy starts to sit down and gets ready to go. Connor starts to go through a list as fast as he can to check everything. He turns to Buffy and looks at her.

"Everything is set," says Connor. "You're ready to go."

"I can't," says Buffy, giving him a worried expression.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Not without you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Besides, you are the man behind Santa Claus."

"No, I couldn't. This is your ride."

"I want you to go with me. Please?"

Connor sees her pleading eyes and could not say no to that. He smiles at her and gets on the sleigh.

"Alright."

Buffy kisses him on the cheek and hugs him tight. She then grabs the riegns of the sleigh. The big doors open for them to ride out into the winter cold night and into the skies.

"Do you want to do the honors?"

"No, you go first."

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!"

"On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!"

"Now dash away! Dash away all!"

With smiles on their faces and eight forceful attentive reindeers, they rode off into the starry skies above the trees and the clouds. The elves wave goodbye and wish them well on their long journey around the world.

Back at Buffy's house, Giles is sitting by the fire. For the first time in so many years, he has not made the ride around the world, but he could not have picked a more perfect candidate.

"I'm so proud of her, Joyce," says Giles. "I didn't believe at first that she could pull it off. She is a Claus for sure."  
"Of course," says Joyce with a smile. "Well, we do have a couple of hours before she comes back. Now we can have some time for ourselves." Joyce pulls Giles off the chair and leads him into the bedroom.

"Joyce?"

"Don't worry; I'll try to be gentle." Joyce grins at Giles as she closes the door.

Meanwhile at Xander's house, Dawn and Xander arrive as the last people of the party are leaving to their homes. The two hurry off into the house, without their parents noticing and head into their rooms.

"Do you really believe all that Buffy said?" asks Dawn as she gets under her covers. Xander sits down next to her. "I mean, was all of that true, or was I imagining it?"

"It was real, Dawn," says Xander. "I believe her. I believe in Santa Claus."

"You know you always did. You just didn't want to admit it."

"You know me too well, Dawny." Xander grins at her. "Goodnight." Xander kisses her on the top of her head.

Xander heads to his room and takes off his shirt. He looks out the window and looks up. He sees a sparkle of light zoom across the sky. Xander then pulls off his pants and slides into bed in his boxers. He sighs and thinks about Buffy. Soon he drifts off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14. Ms. Claus. I know it isn't Christmas or winter, but I haven't finished this story yet. So read on. One more chap to go.

Christmas morning awakens everyone. Dawn runs into Xander's room and wakes him up. Xander stirs in the bed and opens his eyes. The two head downstairs and see that the tree is surrounded by a load of presents that covers the entire bottom floor. Gifts come left and right.

"Wow," says Xander.

Everyone starts passing gifts around and opening them. It's the traditional Christmas gathering. Xander walks by his family, trying to make it into the kitchen, when someone calls him. He turns around completely.

"Xander," says his mother. "This is for you."

Xander walks over to his mother, who has a card in her hands. He takes the card and opens it. Dawn walks over to him to see who it is from. It's from Buffy and it says.

"_Dear Alexander Harris,_

_I know that all you have seen last night was truly something of a dream and if you wish to only know it as that, then I understand. My trip around the world was great. The sleigh was very useful and has been returned to its rightful place. I thank you for that. As you read this, I'm already on my way home to the North Pole. For the very first time, I'm having Christmas with my family. Thanks to you because you've shown me that Family is important, even if they are obnoxious and worry about you way too much. _

_If I never know love again, I'll be fine because you will be in my heart forever. You are my first true love and I will cherish all the time we've spent together. I hope that you hold onto this letter and keep it in your memory of what we had. Always be good Xander because I'm watching you. _

_Love, Buffy."_

Xander looks up, almost about to cry. He keeps it in and looks at Dawn. Dawn glances at the letter and realizes why Xander isn't feeling too happy. Xander quickly makes his way to the stairs and walks up the stairs.

"What's wrong?" asks Xander's mom.

Meanwhile at the North Pole, Buffy greets all the elves and they cheer her on for doing such a good job at taking Santa Claus' place this Christmas. Buffy and Connor head over to her house, where her parents are waiting to celebrate Christmas with her.

"Why did you do it?" asks Connor as they approach Buffy's house. He stops walking and gets in front of her.

"I had to," replies Buffy.

"No, you didn't. You told him the truth and he was okay with it. You made him a believer just like all the other people you help every Christmas."

"I know I did. I never got personal with any of them. I shouldn't get personal with him." Buffy continues to walk, but Connor gets in her way.

"No."

"Connor, get out of my way."

"NO! I'm not going to let you just do this, okay? He loves you and you love him."

"It's not enough. I can't…"

"You mean, you don't love him? Is that it?"

"I do, but…I never thought being who I am would affect me."

"Who you are is someone kind and wonderful. You're the hero of all the children in the whole world today. Who wouldn't like you?"

Buffy nods her head and blushes at Connor's comment. "You're right, but it's too late. I'm sure he's already read the letter." Buffy goes by Connor. She enters her house and is greeted by her mom.

"Sweetheart, you did it," says Joyce. "Congratulations. I knew you could."

Buffy looks at her mom with her eyebrows raised.

"Okay, so we had doubts, but deep down inside, we knew you were the perfect candidate."

"I'll take it." Buffy hugs her mom. The two then head over to the living room, where Giles is waiting.

"Merry Christmas, my dear, Buffy," says Giles as he hobbles over to her with his cane. He hugs his daughter tight.

Connor enters the living room at that point and says hi. Joyce goes over to him and congratulates him as well.

"You two are a great team," says Giles. "I couldn't ask for anyone better."

"Thanks," says Connor.

"So, when do I get to meet this guy, um…?"

"Xander," says Joyce to Giles.

"Yes, Xander."

"You're not," replies Buffy with a sad face.

"Oh, but why not?"

"I broke up with him."

"Why?"

"I don't believe that I could make the relationship work."

"Sweetheart, just because he was in the non believers list does not make him a bad person."

"It's not that."

"She made him a believer," says Connor.

Joyce and Giles look at Connor, then back at Buffy.

"It's true," says Buffy. "I told him everything about me."

"I guess he didn't take it well," says Giles.

"No, he did."

"Then what's the problem?"

"That's the problem," says Connor.

"What?" says Giles. "Buffy, I may not know this man, but I know that he has made you happy these past couple of weeks."

"He has, but it's too late. I sent him a letter saying that…"

"Buffy, it's never too late. Go to him."

"Now?"

"Right this instant."

"But what about…"

"We can have dinner everyday of the year, but love only comes once in a blue moon."

Buffy gets a little teary and hugs her dad tight. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too. Oh, ho ho ho. Wait, I made you something." He hobbles over to Buffy's Christmas stocking by the mantel. "Here." He hands Buffy a hand carved wooden box.

"What is it?"

"Open it."

Buffy opens the box and hears a familiar melody. It's an instrumental version of _I'll be Home for Christmas_, Buffy's favorite Christmas song. She smiles at her father for giving her such a wonderful gift.

"Oz helped me out with getting it to play. He is sure handy with music."

"Thank you, Daddy, it's beautiful."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Oh, right. I gotta go." She hugs her mom, then Connor and leaves.

Back at Xander's house, Xander enters his room and throws the letter on his bed. He hears someone knock on the door.

"Go away," says Xander in a harsh tone.

"Xander," says Dawn from outside his door.

"I don't want to talk, okay?"

Dawn leaves Xander alone. She walks downstairs and sees her mother go over to her. Dawn nods her head.

"Oh, poor dear," says her mom. "Look, I found this. It's for you. It doesn't say from whom."

"Must have forgotten," says Dawn as she begins opening the present. Inside is a necklace just like hers, but with a different stone on it. She turns it around and it says Connor and the date that he was born.

"Didn't you have one of those?"

"Yeah, but I love this one better." Dawn takes the necklace and puts it on.

In Xander's room, he paces back and forth wondering why Buffy would break up with him in a letter. He then heads into the bathroom and half closes the door.

In that instant, Buffy appears in his room. She sees the letter on his bed and grabs it. As she is doing that, her musical box that her father gave her opens a little and the music starts to play.

Xander hears that and quickly walks over to his room. He sees Buffy trying to close her musical box and looking at him. Xander is completely speechless as he walks over to her.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15. Ms. Claus. Sorry so late and I know Christmas is over and almost here again, but I got wrapped up in other stories and couldn't find a place to finish this.

Buffy stands up and looks at him with sad eyes. She sees Xander scratching his head and looking at her. He is so hurt with the letter that she sent him. She can tell from the way he is looking at her. The two stand in the same spot in silence.

"What are you doing here?" asks Xander, breaking the silence and really not trying to sound so mean, but unfortunately, he did.

"I wanted to talk," says Buffy in a meek voice. She doesn't know how to begin to tell him what she really wants to tell him.

"About what?" Xander tries to play dumb because he knows what she wants to talk about. He just doesn't know why she wants to talk about it.

"The letter." Buffy looks down at her music box, then stares at the letter that is lying on Xander's bed.

"And?" Xander tries to keep his cool from remembering what the letter had said. He then sees something that he wasn't expecting. Buffy had tears streaming down her cheek. It broke his heart to see her cry.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Xander turns around because her crying will only make him weak. "You broke up with me in a letter. How could 'I'm sorry' make this all better? I thought we had something." He turns to face her.

"I can explain. I was thinking too rationally and I thought that we came from such different worlds…How were we supposed to make this relationship work?"

"Together, that's how we could have made it work." Xander turns back around.

"What were you going to tell your parents when they ask you, 'oh, when are we going to meet your girlfriend's parents? Where do they live?' 'We can't because they live in the North Pole.'"

"I don't care what they think. I'm in love you and that's all that matters. So, the hell with my parents." Xander approaches her.

"No, they matter. They…did you just say you love me?"

"It doesn't matter now. Aren't you missing a Christmas dinner?" Xander backs away from her.

"Yes, I just wanted to leave a Christmas present I forgot about." Buffy places the music box on the bed.

"What Christmas present?" Xander is curious to whom she had a Christmas present for.

Buffy walks over to Xander and grabs hold of him. She turns him around. "Me." Buffy then pulls him into a passionate kiss. As she releases, Xander just stares at her.

"So, how about that Christmas dinner?"

Buffy breathes a sigh of relief and smiles at him. She pop kisses him. "I love you, too."

"So, what should I wear?"

"Something warm."

"Right, North Pole."

They both laughed and held each other for a while. Then Dawn comes over to Xander's room and sees him hugging Buffy. She is happy for her brother and Buffy to be back together. Buffy pulls away and sees Dawn.

"What did I tell you about knocking?" says Xander.

"Well, I never listen to you anyway," says Dawn with a smile. "So, what's with the break up letter?"

"It was a mistake," says Buffy. "I was thinking too much with my head instead of my heart." Buffy stares at Xander.

"I'm glad you two are together," says Dawn. "Or I'd have to take over his position at the company."

"Dad wouldn't let you do that," says Xander.

"How would you know?"

"Cause dad's not crazy."

"Hey, I can handle it."

"Sure you can."

"Never underestimate a girl's capabilities, Xander," says Buffy.

"So, what are you guys going to do now?" asks Dawn.

"I'm going to the North Pole to meet Buffy's parents," says Xander as he goes over to his closet and takes out his winter coat.

"Oh, really? The North Pole. That is so cool."

"You ready?" says Buffy as Xander comes over to her and takes her hand. The two look at Dawn.

"Well, you guys have a good time." Dawn turns to go. Xander and Buffy look at each other, then at Dawn.

Back at the North Pole, Joyce is already setting the dinner table for supper. Giles is seated at the head of the table. Willow and Oz join them like always, sitting to Giles' right. To his left is an empty chair next to where Connor sits. They all look at the empty chair.

"Don't you all be gloomy tonight," says Joyce.

"I miss her every Christmas," says Giles with a sigh. "And the one Christmas I'm free, she is not here either."

"Giles, you know why she isn't here."

"I know."

"I guess she'll be spending Christmas day with him," says Connor.

"I suppose," says Giles.

Joyce walks over to Giles and kisses him on the forehead. Giles smiles at her and she heads over to the other side of the table.

Then as they are ready to eat, they hear the front door unlock. They all look at each other, then turn their eyes toward the door. The cold winter winds blow inside the room and a set of footsteps can be heard near the entrance. The footsteps become louder as they approach the dining room. First comes Buffy with a smile on her face.

"Buffy. My sweet princess," says Giles, wanting to get up and hug her. Buffy quickly comes to his side and hugs him. Giles places his hand on her cheek and holds his hand tight with hers. She pulls away and goes over to the entryway of the dining room.

"Is there room for me?" asks Buffy.

"Of course," replies Giles.

"Make that two." Xander comes into the dining room, grabbing Buffy's hand.

"Oh, you must be Alexander Harris."

Xander stares at Giles. He can't believe that he is in the presence of Santa Claus. Never in his life would he believe such a thing, but there he is and it's simply magical.

"Oh, come sit," says Joyce as she places plates for the two. "It's so good to meet you in person." Joyce grabs Xander's other hand and holds it tight.

"Oh, Mom?" says Buffy. "Could you set another plate, please?"

"For who?"

Xander and Buffy look over to the entryway of the dining table and signal for the other visitor to enter. Everyone watches as the new person enters the room.

"Dawn," says Connor, surprised and happy to see her again. He gets up from his seat and goes over to her. "I thought I'd…"

Dawn puts her finger against his lips. She smiles and shows him the necklace that he gave her.

"Don't you believe in miracles?" says Dawn. She gives him a smile.

"I do now."

"Well, let's not stand here all night. Let's eat," says Joyce.

Everyone agrees and sits down. Each couple sits together, of course. Buffy sits next to her father and Xander next to her. Dawn and Connor sit next to them. Oz and Willow are trilled to see their best friend so happy and are even surpirse that Connor would actually fall for a girl that isn't Buffy. They all eat and chatted amongst themselves.

Though he still notices her and he still felt jealous that some other man is making her feel happy, Connor is happy for Buffy. She has found a good man to love and to his fortune so has he, a girl in his situation.

Buffy's parents couldn't be any happier. He makes Buffy smile and happy. It's like that old school girl crush feeling, but times ten. Joyce and Giles smile at each other as they watch the two love birds talk.

Buffy has received the best gift of all, love. It's such a precious gift and it is only given to people on special moments in their lives. Buffy never thought that love, which she has encountered plenty of times during her trips to different cities every Christmas, could ever come into her life. Love surprised her for the first time, though she had thought she knew all about it. Not everyone is wise to know about such a complex emotion as love, but when you feel it inside one's heart, it's like magic.

Should I end it here or should I make a sequel. LOL. For this Christmas. If I start writing it now I might just finish in time for Christmas. LOL.


End file.
